A New Smoking Warning for Women, and It's a BIG Deal

Sometimes I dread to report on the health risks of smoking, because obviously you know the risks by now. But, just in case you (or a girlfriend you love) is still, occasionally smoking socially (even a cigarette here and there), this news is for you (and her).

According to a new study published in Circulation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology, an American Heart Association Journal that looked at results of more than 100,000 women as far back as 1976, those who were light to moderate smokers had a significantly increased risk of dying from sudden cardiac arrest than those who didn't smoke.

"Cigarette smoking is a known risk factor for sudden cardiac death, but until now, we didn't know how the quantity and duration of smoking effected the risk among apparently healthy women," said study author Dr. Roopinder K. Sandhu, a cardiac electrophysiologist at the University of Alberta's Mazankowski Heart Institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in a press release.

The bottom line: Even light smoking can increase your risk of dying suddenly, and that's just not cool.